Upcoming fundraiser for the Lackawanna Historical Society

The event will feature a recreation of the musical performances of some of the great artists who appeared in Scranton. It will begin with Ole Bull and move through the years to the modern. It will feature such performers as Caruso, John McCormack, Ms. Schumann-Heink, Lily Pons, Thomas L. Thomas, Allan Jones, Itzhak Perlman. Father Rossetti is gathering the performers from New York.

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About the Book

If You Can Play Scranton is a theatrical history of America as seen through the famous performers who came to Scranton, Pennsylvania. It discusses performances by the best known actors and actresses of the tragic and comic stage, ethnic performers, vaudevillians, musical comedy, concert, orchestra and band performers from 1871-2010. At the turn of the 20th century, Scranton was one of the most famous try-out towns for legitimate stage productions. The sophisticated taste of its audience, created by extensive exposure to world renown talent, continues to this day.

$12.95
298 pgs., 5.5" x 8.5"
paperback
ISBN 9780983741824

About the Author

Music has always been a part of Nancy McDonald’s life.

Her father, Paul McDonald, worked as an engineer for the Scranton Electric Company, later PPL. As a young man, he worked in theaters as an electrician under the chief stage electrician, Terence Carden.

His uncle, Michael McDonald was a state senator and lawyer for Arthur Frothingham, who built Scranton's Frothingham Theater. As a young man, ...Paul McDonald saw many of the famous performers mentioned in If You Can Play Scranton. His stories prompted the research for this project.

From an early age, Nancy McDonald studied music and its history. Her great aunt taught piano and her cousin taught violin at the Scranton Conservatory of Music. Both were two of the original members of the Scranton Singers Guild.

She is a summa cum laude graduate of Marywood University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She majored in history and minored in drama. She was certified to teach history, drama and English. She received an M. A. in European History from Marywood University. She was inducted into Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society while in graduate school. After she completed her master's, she took graduate credits in voice at Marywood.

She taught at West Scranton Senior High School until her retirement in 1999. She is a career-long member of the Scranton Federation of Teachers. She also represented the Pennsylvania Federation of Teachers for five years on the Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission. In 1983 she was one of ten finalists for the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year.